1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to computers and to telecommunications and, more particularly, to methods and systems for assigning multiple technicians to a particular turf, or a particular skill level, when repairing a telecommunications network.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a telecommunications network requires repair, technicians are currently assigned one at a time to a turf or to a skill level. When a technician needs to be reassigned to another turf or to an additional skill level, the current work order dispatch system only permits reassigning one technician at a time. A computer user, for example, accesses a particular technician's schedule and reassigns that technician to a new turf or to an additional skill. The computer user then accesses the next technician's schedule, reassigns this next technician to a turf or a skill level, and then moves on to another technician. The computer user must individually access each technician's schedule and iteratively assign each technician to a new turf or to a new skill level. This iterative process requires two-to-three minutes per technician. So, if the computer user must reassign twenty (20) technicians, this iterative process requires upwards of one hour for the twenty technicians. The current iterative process creates a time-consuming disruption in each day, and the current iterative process prevents supervisors and managers from completing more value-added tasks.
An example provides further illustration. The telecommunications network, during a typical day-to-day operation, might experience a heavy repair workload on the south end of town, while the north end of town has a light workload. The technicians working in the north end are not normally assigned to the turfs of the south end, so a supervisor or manager might want to reassign some north-end technicians to help with repairs on the south end. The supervisor interfaces with the work order dispatch system and iteratively reassigns one technician at a time. Because this iterative process requires two-to-three minutes per technician, the supervisor spends an hour or more each time repair resources must be reassigned. During times of severe weather and of natural disasters, such as a hurricane, hundreds of technicians may need to be reassigned. The current iterative process thus becomes prohibitively time-consuming. The current iterative process also prevents adequate repair resources from being timely assigned for quick restoration of communications service.
There is, accordingly, a need in the art for an integrated dispatch system that permits assigning multiple technicians to turfs and to skill levels, a need for methods and systems that provide an easy, user-friendly method of assigning multiple technicians, and a need for methods and systems that quickly allow assignment of multiple technicians to turfs and to skill levels.